The Mustangs started the night off well against Adams State College, taking the first two sets Friday night 25-21 and 25-18, but the Grizzlies senior middle hitter Darcy Jennings-Calkins finished the five-set match with a career-high 27 kills and 13 blocks to push Adams State over the top. The Grizzlies took the next three sets and the win. 

A loss for the Mustangs (11-15, 9-9 RMAC) will most likely draw the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers at the RMAC Tournament unless the Mustangs defeat Colorado State-Pueblo in their season finale on Saturday while getting help from the struggling New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls who must defeat Adams State. Adams State improves to 13-13 overall and to 10-8 in RMAC play.

Early on in the night, it looked as if the Mustangs would cruise to a 3-0 match win as Natali Murdock (Phoenix, AZ/Pinnacle High School) put down seven kills in the first set alone. Overall, Murdock tallied 26 kills in the match. WNMU used a 5-2 run to open up a 21-18 lead en-route to the victory finished off by a Ziona Verhulsdonk (Kailua, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) kill, one of 13 she had during the match.

The Mustangs were even more impressive in the second set as they hit .393 while breaking open an early 7-7 tie with a 5-0 run behind the serving of Verhulsdonk. Leading 12-7 at the time, the Mustangs continued to roll and eventually finished the set off with a block by setter Ellen East (Pomerene, AZ/Benson High School) and Christine Pina (Glendora, CA/Glendora High School).

Out-hit .312 to .122 in the first two sets combined, the Grizzlies then started to gel early in the third set as they jumped out to a 7-2 lead before extending that lead to 14-7. The Mustangs clawed back to within 20-17 on a 4-0 run that included two Heather Rux (Cottonwood, AZ/Mingus Union High School) kills. The teams then exchanged points throughout much of the rest of the set to give the Grizzlies their first set win of the night.

The Mustangs then jumped out to a 4-1 lead early in the fourth set, but the Grizzlies went on a massive 16-0 run. The Mustangs tried everything including going deep into their bench, which ultimately led to confusion and them being out of rotation.

That mental mistake gave the Grizzlies a 24-12 lead, more than enough of a cushion for the Grizzlies to force the decisive fifth set that was tied 11 times and included seven lead changes.

East tallied 53 assists and a team high 18 digs. She also moved to a right side hitter position in the fourth set and tallied three kills on the night.

Sophomore libero AJ Palmer led the Grizzly back row with 21 digs while Marilee Frost (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School), who played as the Mustangs' libero in the second through fifth sets, tallied 12 for the visitors.

Click here for complete statistics.